Sir Michael Lyons appointed BBC chairman

Former council chief Sir Michael Lyons has been appointed the new chairman of the BBC, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has announced.

The former market trader, 57, who recently delivered a report to the Government on the council tax system, succeeds Michael Grade in the £140,000 position.

Sir Michael Lyons is said to be close to Chancellor Gordon Brown, which has prompted allegations of cronyism from the Conservatives.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said: "Sir Michael Lyons is experienced and talented. He has a distinguished track record in local government and a wide range of other sectors.

"He will be an excellent chair of the new BBC Trust. Along with the eleven trust members, he will represent the interests of the licence fee payers, ensuring they receive quality programming and value for money.

"Sir Michael joins a talented team of people, including Chitra Bharucha, whom I would like to thank for her work as acting chair during this period."

A string of big names were linked to the job when Mr Grade quit for rival ITV.

But many of them, such as broadcaster David Dimbleby and former film producer Lord Puttnam, ruled themselves out of the race, prompting speculation that the job had become unpopular.

Sir Michael, a professor of public policy at Birmingham University, recently completed a three-year review into changes in the council tax system.

But his proposals - recommending an upper band of council tax for homes worth more than £2 million and a low band for the cheapest homes - was shelved by Gordon Brown.

Conservative culture spokesman Hugo Swire said his closeness with Brown would "add to the concerns about how this Government has politicised the appointments process".

Sir Michael said: "It is a great privilege to be appointed chairman of the BBC Trust.

"As the BBC's sovereign body, our duty is to ensure the public who pay for the BBC retain overall control of their BBC.

"As chairman I will never lose sight of the public's core expectations of editorial independence and quality programmes across television, radio and the internet which inform, educate and entertain.

"I look forward to the exciting challenges of the future and working with my colleagues on the Trust to ensure the BBC provides a quality service to justify the public's continuing support."

Sir Michael is a former chief executive of three city councils - Wolverhampton, Nottingham and Birmingham.

He was a street market trader between 1970 and 1972 before moving into brand management, academia and local government.

The applicants were interviewed by a panel and a recommendation was made by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

The candidate's name was then sent to the Privy Council, which advises the Queen, and was rubber-stamped by the Prime Minister.

Mr Grade quit the BBC for ITV last year.